Jerseygirl, JESUS
I have the privilege of knowing people who are far more interesting than I, and one of them is stirring up a boat-load of controversy in Iowa. Specifically, the furor is over the poster she uses to promote the one-woman show she wrote called Truth Values: One Girl’s Romp Through M.I.T.’s Male Math Maze.
Even more specifically, people are upset about her shoes.
Her (gasp!) leopard print shoes.
Gioia DeCari is a professional artist I call my friend. She was also once a Ph.D. student in the math department at M.I.T. and a teaching fellow at Harvard, when she walked away from academia, swearing to never speak of her math experiences again.
But as some of us know, art beckons despite our intentions. She began to write about her experience as an exercise in memoir, simply to hone her skills. It wasn’t until she began working professionally in the arts that she noticed other performers and writers sharing incredibly personal autobiographical experiences. Still, writing from her painful past felt taboo for her.
Until, that is, Larry Summers happened.
(If you don’t feel like clicking the link and don’t remember, he was the president of Harvard and made a right mess of things when he said that men surpass women in science and math for biological reasons. Of course, perhaps he’s right — people with penises do tend to get more privileges, so that’s biological, right?)
Anyway, when she sent me a text that said:
“Breaking news – the poster for my show is causing outrage in Iowa City”
— I of course wanted to know more. She explained:
“I’m told I am scandalously sexy and not dignified and wrong for women. I have been told that before — by people who have not seen the show — that I am wrong for women.”
But wait….she’s a….woman….so how can she be wrong for…..huh?
(head shake)
While I cleared my head she went on to say:
“And they were especially upset by….wait for it…my sexy leopard print shoes — I kid you not.”
Offline, Gioia even told me that she had been called a slut. Imagine. Slut shamed! Like Miley Cyrus! For LEOPARD PRINT SHOES!
So wait — are you ready? Are you ready to see the picture that has these folks all in a tizzy? Okay, I’ll let you click it. Clear the room of innocent eyes! Get your Porto-Baptismal out so you can self-cleanse immediately after! Prepare to be utterly and totally morally ruined by viewing this picture, then I’ll meet you back here after you recover peruse.
CLICK HERE AND TRY TO BE OFFENDED.
Whew. Are you okay? I know — it was utterly, completely, REPREHENSIVELY –
not offensive.
Right?
So after we went back and forth for a while, I convinced Gioia to talk to me in depth about it, and let me put here on the blog. But because she’s so cool, I think it’d be awesome for you to get to know her yourself. So I’ll let Gioia tell you her story, but only if you promise to read through to the end to find out how you can help us get the word out to bring her story to lots of people in Iowa, and possibly, even back home in NYC.
Tell us a little about Truth Values, the play. What made you take your exercise in personal memoir and turn it into a play? What is Truth Values really about?
When Larry Summers was President of Harvard, he gave a speech in which he suggested that there were fewer women in science and math because they inherently weren’t as good at math and science as the men!
This got him fired from Harvard, and it also fired me up.
I thought, “I’m a woman, I’m a “recovering mathematician,” and I’m an artist now. It’s time I spoke up.” Wonder of wonders, the show has since become a national hit, having been presented at nearly 50 venues across the U.S., some very illustrious, such as the La Jolla Playhouse Potiker Theatre, the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, and at M.I.T. itself, where it was presented as part of the institute’s 150th anniversary celebration.
So now the play is going up in Iowa (and causing a stir). Where and when?
The play will be presented at the Englert Theatre, sponsored by nearby University of Iowa, on September 21. Tickets and more information can be found here. The next few tour dates and ticketing links can be found here.
When and how did you first learn that there might be some controversy around your show going up at this venue?
We received an email expressing outrage over [the] photo on one of the show posters on campus. The writer found my attire and playful sensual attitude inappropriate in a math context, and was especially taken aback by the leopard print shoes.
Tell me about the inciting posters. What do leopard print shoes mean to you?
The poster consists essentially of the photo above, with some extra text listing sponsors, ticket info, date and time, etc. – essentially the same as here. The photo shows me in a math classroom wearing my costume from the show: a black pantsuit and leopard print pumps. Actually it is a picture of my first costume; coming up on 100 performances now, I have since worn out 8 suits and 4 pairs of leopard print shoes! The idea for the costume came from how I struggled with what to wear when I was at M.I.T. I felt I needed to relegate my femininity to at most one small item of my outfit, lest I cause an uproar. Lo and behold, here I am still causing an uproar with my fashion choices! As far as leopard print, there’s something a little wild and feminine and haute couture about a really classy leopard print shoe – what’s not to love?
What would you want to say to the people who are offended by your poster?
I have an equation for them:
my art + stirring you up = a good thing
[bctt tweet=”my art + stirring you up = a good thing #TruthValues #SexyLeopardShoes”]
What do you think is the real reason people are offended by this poster, or by leopard print shoes?
That’s a really challenging question. I can only think to answer in a roundabout way as follows: Usually on tour, presenters of my show like to pair it with post-performance discussions about women in male-dominated professions, particularly math and the sciences – “STEM fields,” as they are called. At this point, I have participated in 60 plus of these discussions with some of the most prominent experts in the country.
The most fascinating thing I’ve learned along the way is that my work is an illumination of unconscious bias – the destructive mental shortcuts we take, without meaning to, about gender and race.
It sounds like a heavy topic, and it is, and yet the play is most often described as “hilarious.” I consider this a minor miracle, attracting audiences nationwide for a hilarious hit show about unconscious bias, but the people who see only the poster and not the play may not understand this.
There are people who are showing support and have even raised money to support the show. Tell me about that — how’d that happen, and who is supporting you?
This particular tour, to Iowa City’s Englert Theatre, is sponsored by the University of Iowa. Some of my tours are generated through a performing arts center or theater, i.e. from the arts solely, and others, like this one, may begin from a department of the university, in this case, the University of Iowa Women in Science and Engineering. Then there are often other departments which join as partners, such as math, theater, women’s studies, physics, etc. I hear more departments joined in after hearing of the controversy, which truly makes me smile!
What do you hope to accomplish with the show? What is the mission behind Truth Values?
The mission behind this project was originally about art, artistic expression, and speaking my own truth in the face of the Larry Summers incident. My intent was never to teach or convince – I wanted to touch hearts and minds with my art. When I began to witness the response to the piece, the knowing laughter, the women who came to me in tears after the show telling me it changed their lives, this is when I realized that the impact of this project could be even larger. My joy now is to also create community happenings around the play that take a fresh, fun and compassionate look at unconscious bias, with special focus on the effect on women in male-dominated professions.
I know you’ve been wanting to take the show to the New York stage. What would it take to get there?
Bless your heart for asking. I have to say that I have performed the play several times in New York; I premiered it at the New York International Fringe Festival, where it won Best Solo Show, and after that it was presented in the Science & the Arts Series of CUNY Graduate Center as well as the All For One Theater Festival at Theatre 80. However, I think what you are asking about is a more extensive residency in New York other than a night here or there. I have in mind a series of performances paired with outstanding talkbacks on related issues that have particular resonance in New York City, for example women’s experience in male-dominated math-related fields like finance and tech, which are so strong in NYC. What would it take to get there? Funding, of course, and a some key community partners and sponsors to maximize impact and outreach.
How can JgJ / She*s ELEVATED readers help? What else do you want people to know? (This post will appear identically on both Jerseygirl, Jesus and She*s ELEVATED).
Come out and see the show in a theater near you if you are in New Jersey or the Midwest, and/or tell your friends! See the upcoming tours here. Or, to help bring “Truth Values” back to its home in New York City, please consider making a tax-deductible donation here. Social media word of mouth helps too – please follow the show on Twitter, and like it on Facebook.
That was where Gioia stopped, but I’d like to share more ways we can help. Gioia’s story and this amazing play have the potential to keep this conversation in the forefront of society.
When women are not permitted, through a vast array of sociological mores and institutionalized gender bias, to live out and up to their greatest potential, the world misses out on half of its intended solutions, its innovations, its cures for all its ills.
Here are some ways you can get involved, above and beyond going to see her show and donating some cash.
1. Participate in our Virtual Shoe In. How cool would it be to create a social media firestorm, where we all post pics of ourselves in leopard shoes and post with the hashtags #SupportTruth , #SexyLeopardShoes , and/or #TruthValues. Tell your friends to participate in this too! We’d LOVE and WELCOME men to participate in showing their support by squeezing their big hairy feet into some Manolos and snapping on Instagram, too.
2. Know someone who works for a shoe company? We think it’d be so cool if a shoe company could sponsor a two-week NYC run of Truth Values.
3. If you’re going to see the show, break out your leopard accessories and be FABULOUS to show your solidarity.
Finally, if you’d like some more info about the show, here’s a video for your viewing pleasure. And for those of you in the NYC Metro area, I’ll be checking out Gioia’s show in October when it’s in Branchburg. It’s a GREAT excuse for me to buy some #SexyLeopardShoes!
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